Lately I've been noticing that celebrities get a lot of gifts from people who don't even know them. And wondering---WHY? and isn't this ultimately a waste of money when the money could be so much better spent for people who really need it. Yeah, I know it's a nice sentiment whenever someone wants to be nice to someone and give them a gift, but this zealous gifting of celebrities who don't need it is really bothering me.

At an Atlanta restaurant where Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson or someone like that was eating (you can tell how much I care about sports! ), another diner at a different table (a stranger) sent over a $400 bottle of wine to MJ's table.

When Queen Elizabeth came to the US recently, someone gave her a bracelet with 32 stones representing the Virginia Tech victims. Certainly these 32 deserve to be remembered---but not necessarily by the Queen of England. She has tragedies in her own country to deal with. And c'mon---like the Queen is really going to wear some bracelet that an American commoner gave her?

Then there's all the gifts that politicians receive. I just read about the gifts that Bush and Cheney have received, but it could be any politician from any party. This may be a little off subject, since some of this gifting is done for future political favors.

And don't even get me started about all the flowers that were at the memorials for Princess Di. (You can't even begin to imagine until you see it, like I did recently in the film The Queen.) Since Diana wasn't around to enjoy these flowers, it just seems like the money could have been better spent on contributions to one of Di's charities. (Again, this example may be a little off subject since it has to do with mourning a dead person, but I've often thought that it's a shame that many people get flowers only when they die and not when they're alive.)

Most celebrities are rich because of family wealth and/or connections. Those that weren't born into and get into the limelight due to their own talents become wealthy. So even if fans have enjoyed their talents and are appreciative of them, it just seems unnecessary to get them a gift. I wish I could start something where people could just hand a celebrity a card that says that they will be donating money to such and such a charity in recognition of them and that could be the celebrity gift.

I guess it just seems so sycophantic to fawn over celebrities---and people in power. When I was working, I tried to avoid gifting for Bosses' Day like the plague! I couldn't see why I needed to give a gift to a boss who was making more money than me. I felt like I was doing enough just to be as productive as I was (doing two to three times what I was required to do, never taking a sick day or many vacation days, coming in early, etc.---all of which I totally regret now!)

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I have always thought that that psychology of celebrityhood is similar to people offering gifts to the local gods to bring rain and the like. People want to make a connection with something that they think is larger than them in hopes that it would rub off in some way or that they celebrity endorsing their cause gives it higher validation then someone like me. And I am sure some people will then expect favors.

In defense of Bush and Cheney, any gifts given to them as representatives of the American people are passed on to some part of the White House that sorts through them. They are only allowed to keep gifts less than some monetary amount. There was a story about Prince Bandar having to wait until Colin Powell left the government to give Colin a car that he had always wanted.

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